Ganymede (or Ganymedes) was a young man from Troy. His beauty was unparalleled, and for that reason, Zeus abducted and brought him to Olympus to serve as his cupbearer and lover. Ganymede's myth is an important step in queer history, but there is also a dark side to the story.
Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera.
While the vast majority of Zeus's lovers were female, one of Zeus's lovers was the mortal Ganymede. Ganymede is noted as the only one of Zeus's lovers to whom he granted immortality. It seems there is only one: Ganymede.
Zeus and Metis
His first and favorite lover was Metis, a Titan goddess and mother of Athena.
Perhaps partly because of the strange circumstances of her birth, Athena is often cited as Zeus's favourite child. He also greatly admired her strength of character and fighting spirit.
Apollo: Zeus' Best-Known Son
He is often described and portrayed in art and literature as the ideal male beauty, with a strong, muscular and athletic build. Funnily enough, he turned out quite like his father, featuring dominantly in many Greek myths, and enjoying a string of love affairs that usually ended badly.
Zeus's notable spouse, Hera, holds a significant role as the goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth. Intriguingly, Hera is not only Zeus's wife but also his sister. Their union began with Zeus employing a clever ploy—he transformed into an injured bird to elicit Hera's compassion and affection.
A while later, he rapes her, she agrees to marry him and they create a family on Mount Olympus, the Deities' new home. Unfortunately, Zeus constantly cheats on Hera and he has done it over a hundred times, but in the end Hera always forgives him.
As the sky god Zeus had easy access to the women of the world and took full advantage of it. Also, his power as a supreme god made him difficult to resist. Prior to his marrage to Hera he was married first to Metis, then Themis.
Aphrodite later and of her own volition had an affair with Zeus, but his jealous wife Hera laid her hands upon the belly of the goddess and cursed their offspring with malformity. Their child was the ugly god Priapos.
Hera figures out what Poseidon is up to and seduces Zeus to distract his attention away from the battle. As the Achaeans rally, Hektor is wounded.
Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, also offered his son's roasted flesh to Zeus. It was atrocious behavior to serve human flesh to him, as Zeus had a dislike for humans in general.
Amalthaea, in Greek (originally Cretan) mythology, the foster mother of Zeus, king of the gods. She is sometimes represented as the goat that suckled the infant god in a cave in Crete, sometimes as a nymph who fed him the milk of a goat.
Who hasn't Zeus slept with? According to a Homeric Hymn, there are three goddesses whom Aphrodite “can't persuade or decieve”, i.e. who don't feel sexual desire and are perpetually virgins. They are Athena, Artemis and Hestia. So, we are sure that Zeus did never have affairs with any of those three.
Accordingly, the Greek god Zeus's affairs were with willing participants – regardless of his trickery and disguise to seduce them. The male-dominated art world interpreted Zeus's promiscuity as part of fulfilling his duty to populate the newly formed world. They never allowed it to detract from his dignity.
In Greek mythology, the deities Zeus and Hera are identified both as siblings and as husband and wife. Together, Zeus and Hera created seven offspring, all of them divine and all featuring their own legends and stories.
Since he was considered the God of Justice, he can be viewed as an anti-villain in a sense his actions, while cruel, were designed to enforce order rather than create chaos.) He ate his pregnant wife Metis alive out of fear that their child would overthrow him.
Gods aside, Zeus also had sexual affairs with 20 mortals, including one male, Ganymede, a prince ofTroy.
If you actually sit down and read a lot of what genuine ancient Greek pagans said about Zeus, he is fundamentally righteous. Zeus hates iniquity and loves justice; he rewards the righteous, and strikes down the evil. Fire or lightning from heaven is a weapon against the cruel.
Io, in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus (the river god of Argos) and the Oceanid Melia. Under the name of Callithyia, Io was regarded as the first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer.
Suffice it to say that Zeus was constantly involved in extramarital affairs. Throughout the various and sometimes contradictory myths composed by Greek authors, there are at least 20 divine figures with whom he consorted, and about twice as many mortals.
Before his marriage to Hera, Zeus consorted with a number of the female Titanes (and his sister Demeter). These liaisons are ordered by Hesiod as follows: (1) Metis; (2) Themis; (3) Eurynome; (4) Demeter; (5) Mnemosyne; (6) Leto.
He had countless affairs with goddesses, nymphs and mortals alike. This turned Hera into a jealous, vengeful wife who spent all her time on Mount Olympus spying on her husband and plotting revenge against his lovers.
This gallery will showcase the Gods and Goddesses of Greek Mythology. It all starts with Zeus. Zeus has four siblings which include Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Hestia. Zeus also had six children which include Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Ares, and Aphrodite.
The goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth, she was known by the Romans as Juno. Homer gave Hera the epithet “ox-eyed” because of her large full eyes and described her as tall and striking. Hera was both sister and wife of Zeus, with whom she reigned on Mount Olympus.